Gun control is a huge issue in the world, and until recently, Facebook has been a very popular tool for those trying to sell guns illegally. The popular social media platform has finally taken a stand in preventing these criminal exchanges by regulating flagged gun posts and sending out warnings to those deemed illegitimate.

Until now, Facebook has remained quiet about the issue. It is hard to find a healthy medium for a social platform on how much regulation should be implemented for the goal Facebook is trying to achieve. Facebook is mostly a place of free expression where folks from all over the world can connect and share nearly anything of their choosing.

I guess Facebook finally decided that although they wish to keep that same freedom of speech leniency, they simply cannot ignore the gun issue. Illegal gun sales can lead to hazardous results. The new guidelines seem like they should be effective. Any time a post is flagged for illegal gun content, Facebook will remind the poster of the local gun laws. Anything posted that blatantly defies the law will be banned.

Here are typical gun posts found on Facebook:

There is a gray area with all this. One of the most popular gun Facebook pages, racking in over 213,000 followers, does not actually sell guns even though it is named “Guns for Sale”. They simply repost other people’s information regarding guns for sale. It’s a place where those selling guns and those looking to buy can connect. Some of those purchases may very well be legal – the problem is weeding out the ones that are not.